Background Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal malignant tumors which remains a rampant killer across the globe. Lack of early diagnosis and toxic drugs have failed to improve the survival rate of pancreatic cancer patients, thus new agents that are safe, available and effective are urgently needed. Objective The study aimed to investigate the efficacy of Agarwood essential oils in the inhibition of metastasis and induction of apoptosis in the pancreatic cell line (MIA PaCa-2). Methods Essential oils of Aquilaria crassna were obtained by hydrodistillation. Chemical characterization was analyzed using FTIR and GCMS. The effects of essential oils against three steps of metastases have been investigated, including cell proliferation, migration and clonogenicity. Hoechst and rhodamine assays confirmed the mechanism of pancreatic cancer cell death. Results The results showed that essential oils exhibited potent cytotoxic activity against MIA PaCa-2 cells with an IC50 (11